underhill



`1 ,$09,377. Patented July v8,;1919.

1 C. H. UNDRHILL.

BRAKE MECHANISM. APrfLlc/mon FILED mAR.12, 1917.

will

4 Y .rotating elenient.- 4The invention, a

connection cHAnLEs-R. UNDEBHILL, or NEW. HAVEN, coNNiicrIcUT.

BRAKE ivinoiianisivi.

Application filed March 1 2, 1 9'17. lSerial No. 154,297.

To all whom it may concern: y I Be it knownthat'l, CHARLES'R. UNDER- HILL, a citizen ofthe United States, and resident of 4New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have l and luseful Improvefollowing is a specification., y

This invention relates to brake mechanism, and particularly to brake mechanism for a which is particularly. adapted for use in with motor cars' or motor trucks, has for its main object Vto provide mechanisin which is power operated and in which the eii'ectiveness of the power-operated means may be Y considerably augmented by manually oor pedaloperated or controlled means.

, It isa further object of the invention to so construct the mechanism that, should the power operated -means become inoperative for any reason whatsoever, the manually p or pedal ope ted or controlled device' may ettingthe brakes.

' The inventioncontemplates, broadly, the employment 'of any suitable power means for operating the braking member or menibers, and a suitable manually or pedal operated 0rcontrolled element for .renderingv the power means operative and effective to various degrees,

which means is also operative to apply the braking member or augment the eiect of the power means.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing, which ischosen for the Vsake of convenience of illustration, includes a solenoid magnet, in the energizing circuit of which a suitable rheostat is interpolated. This circuit' is open when the braking member is inoperative, but is automatically closed. upon the operation of a pedal 0r a manually operated or controlled element, which, itself, cooperates with the rheosta't to render-'the 'magnet more or less effective and to .positively operate the braking member or, members. 1t ,is` o i". course, to be understood -thct the electric power means'may be replaced, by various other types of power means, and whenreplaced by such latter means, the controlling element for the power means will be suitably modied 4to meet the particular conditions.

Referring'to the embodiment illustrated in the drawing Figure 1 lis a dlagraminatic View illustratv Speccaton of Letters Patent;

roperating rod 4 Patented Juiy 55.5,'1919.

in no way essential to the present invention,

as any brakingelementjmay be used. The is pivoted at one of its ends, that is to say, at the end remote from the brake-applying `member 3, toa lever 5. This lever'5 is suitably pivoted between its ends, at 6, to any convenient support. Adjacent to the end remote from the rod 4 is located a solenoid magnet 7, the core 8 of which is ivoted to the adjacent end of the lever 3. Thus, it will be seen that upon the energization of the magnet, vthe 'core will be attracted and will be effective to move thelever 5 about its pivot in such a direction that the brake applying element 3 will be operated.- The movement of the I direction is produced byv a spring 9, or other suitable device, and this'moveinent is lim- '.ited by a stop 10. The magneti' is inclu(l :d

in a normally open circuit 1.1 which includes, in addition to the source 1Q, av rheostat R. A controlling element 14, which, in the, drawing, is disclosed as a pedal,but which may, as a mattei' of fact, be any suitable means,.is pivoted at 15, and is provided with an upwardly extending arm16 having a tread 17 thereon, and a downwardly extending arm 18, in the path of movement of which the lever 5 lies. A projection 19 extendsfro'm 'the pedal 14 and carries a con-k tact 20, which is insulated from the projection. This contact 20 is adapted, when the pedal 14 is moved aboutits pivot by the depression of' thel tread 17, to engage successively ,a series of contacts 21 on the resistance coils 13, and is of sufficient length to" f ed, when the lever ismoved in one direction.

to engage the contact 20, previously referred lever in the opposite Y fte.: The nori'nal tendency of the lever 23'to ino\e the contact S24 Ainto engagementwith' thecontact 2O is produced byv a. suitablel s]-i 1in,'rl 25, which is connectedto the leverV and .to the'arm 16 o1l the pedal 14. lThe.

. cessiv'e cutting out -ot' the resistancev coils j braking n made for the application of the braking or .inoperative position.`

contacts 2() and 2in1-e, however, when the pedal l-l is in its inoperative position, held out vof engagement. with each other by a stop 2G, against which theleve'r and thev of the operation ot' the pedal ll, ythe contact qii`eiitly, the solenoid magnet 7 i will be considerably i'iiig i,'iiie1itedv by jrtive Jr'orce transmitted.through the tothe lever 5 and the connectingmeans be-A tween the lever and the braking member or *n members.

.t'or any reason whatever,

2() will be .in engagement with thev endinost of the resistance coils 13, so that all of thecoilsl will be cut into the circuit, and, conse-y will, at'tliis time, be least effective.. As the pcd-al is first depressed, the coils will be successively cut ont ot circuit and the magnet rendered gradually more eit'ectiveto move the lever 5. lt will, of course,be understood that this suewill have the eii'ect of. causing` the gradual application of the braking` member or menibers. member `o'r members Awill m'atically by a `suitablej-powervnieans, and that the power means will be -undertlie control of vthe operator.A l

The pedal 14, may be depressed to such'an extent that the arm 18 will eiigi'age'tlleleverv point to 5 between its. pivot point and the' which the core S ot' the magnetis attached, so that uponsubsequent and 'furtherdepres` sion of the pedal, the e'tl'ect of themagnet the posi'-V Of'V course, should theA power operating means become, ineffective, the braking member or 4members maybe applied by nieansof the pedal..

It will thus be seenthat I have provided a mechanism -wherein provision is At this preliminary stage tion It will thus be seen vthat the braking be applied autothereon for pedal 14:'

lit l will he understood that member or 'members 'by power operating means, which means is cont'rolled'by 'a suitable means iinder the direct'control of the opeiator,'a1id that 'the latter `means may be rendered effective to directly apply the brakl ing member or members. The application of the vbraking .member or members may, therefore, Abe readily accomplished by a per- 'SOH who is physically inct'nnpetent toapply .the ordinary foot brake. .A

IVhat I 'claim is tion with 'a braking member, electrical' mechanism for operating the-same, means for controlling the electrical mechanism to render it eii'ecti've to various degrees, which means is subsequently operable to augment the `brak- 'ingI eHect of said electrical Vmechanism, and means tor automatically returning tlie'con-y trolling' means toits initial fposition-to' reit- 'der the same inoperative In a brake mechanism, the combination with a Abraking member, of an velement for operating the same, an electro-magnetfor initially actuating' said element, anda pedal.

adapted to close the magnet circuit upon its initial moveiiient and to act directly on the brake operating element to actuate the same' afterthe .initial actuation by themagiien 3. In a brakev mechanism, the combinawith a braking member, of an operatll. Iii a brake mechanism, the c oinbin.a'

inglevertherefor, an electro-magnet forfactiiati'ng the lever, a pedal having means closing' the magnet circuit and ha vingy a projection adapted to engage the lever to actuate the same after its initial actuation by the magnet.

L In a brake mecl'ianism, the combination with`a..brakingl member, of an operating le- \'crtherefor,'a solenoid magnet for actuating said lever, an elect-ricalcircuit incliidi'ngsaid magnet, a rheostat insaiol circuit, a pedal hav'- ing a controlling Contact for said rheostat, a switch carried by the pedal for controllingthc circuit, means on the pedal adapted to contact with the lever to .operate the brake directly', and means tor the magnet circuit. I

Signed at N ew York, in the county of New York and State of New York, this 7 th day of March, A. 1917.'.

CHARLES UNDERHILL. l/Vitnesses:

CI-IAS. F. DANE C. J. BUTLER.

returning the pedal to its ini-l -tial' position to release the brakeand open 105 

